My goal is typically to read 50 books in a year. I did not accomplish that. But, thanks to finally jumping on the audio book bandwagon, I read more than I actually thought. So here’s my list. And here’s to more great books in 2017!

Young Adult:
What Light – Jay Asher
P.S. I like You – Kasie West
How I Live Now – Meg Rosoff
How to Disappear – Sharon Huss Roat
Summer Days & Summer Nights: Twelve Love Stories – Ed: Stephanie Perkins
When the Moon was Ours – Anna-Marie McLemore
All About the Hype – Paige Toon
Because of the Sun – Jenny Torres Sanchez
It Started with Goodbye – Christina June
The Inside of Out – Jenn Marie Thorne
How it Feels to Fly – Kathryn Holmes
Outrun the Moon – Stacey Lee
The Trouble with Destiny – Lauren Morrill

November is my birth month, which makes it pretty awesome. To celebrate, I’m having a month of AUTOFOCUS! Each day throughout the month I’ll post on Twitter info on a chapter. (So, the 1st will be chapter 1, the 2nd will be chapter 2 and so on.) Either a deleted scene, a fun fact, or just a thought I had while typing. And at the end of the month, there will be prizes. Yes, prizes.

Want to play? Awesome, it’s easy:

Get the book (buy it, borrow it from a friend, get it from the library, check out an ebook, etc…) (Please do not illegally download it. Please.)

Comment on my Tweets, or Tweet your own thoughts. Use #autofocusreadalong. Every Tweet with that hashtag will go into a drawing for PRIZES. (1 point for each Tweet. 5 points for a photo with the book!)

That’s it! If you can’t keep up with 1 chapter a day, that’s totally cool. There’s school and work and, you know, life. You can still participate. Send me comic recommendations for Bennett–he’ll love them.

Excited? I know I am.

As always, THANK YOU for reading. I appreciate you all. A whole bunch.

I’ve seen this going around the blogosphere before, listing five things that make you happy each week. Since I rarely blog here, and would like to more often, I figured this was a great way to do it. So–here are my five things this week.

My agent OKing my next project (one I’m particularly excited about).

Meet the teacher for L’s new school. This is part sad, part exciting. I’ll attempt to not cry the first day.

Meeting high school friends for dinner, and realizing we’ve been close for nearly half our lives.

College friend visiting and slipping back into that crazy, roommate phase once again, where we didn’t need to say anything, but knew what the other was thinking.

Today is Friday. This past Tuesday, AUTOFOCUS officially released into the wild. Then, on Thursday, I celebrated the one year anniversary of THE NIGHT WE SAID YES being published. It’s a crazy experience, knowing something I wrote – something I imagined – is out in the world. That people from all over are reading it. That they’re discussing it online, and having favorite characters and quotes. Writing is such a personal experience that when the book is finally published, it’s…crazy. And terribly exciting.

All that said, the week has been overshadowed by a lot of sadness. I’m devastated by what happened in Orlando, Florida. I’m devastated that I live in a time where people are still full of so much hatred. I’m proud to say the city is rebuilding, and that there’s so much love being passed around. People from all over are coming here to show their support. There are so many beautiful rainbow flags flying over the interstate. The city is united, and while I love it, I hate that a terrible situation caused it.

For those who don’t know, I live in Orlando; it’s been my home for so long. It’s why all my books take place, at lease in part, here. Last night I was discussing the scene in TNWSY where Ella says she feels safe in Orlando–that the only thing she fears is bad ex-boyfriends. That’s kind of how I felt when I was in high school. I was in this small bubble where nothing could go wrong. Though times have changed, and it’s completely idealistic, I want to raise my daughter like that. Not to fear, but to love. And love and love and love. So, I dedicated my second book to her–and I’m celebrating that love today. Thank you all for your love, and for reading. xo